WRITING CHALLENGE | BLAST FROM THE PAST

Operator, Could You Help Me Please?

Isn’t that the way they say it goes?

Have you seen this story from Joe Luca? if not, go over there pronto, so you can understand what I have to say.

He receives a mysterious package with an old-fashioned telephone in it with a message that reads,

You have one call to make and only one, to anybody in your past, dead or alive. Dial their number if you know it. Dial their name if you don’t. They will answer. Good luck.

Joe tells an amazing story, and then asks,

What would you do if such a phone was delivered to your door? Would you be ready, able to punch in the number or name? Reach out to someone you loved and miss or someone who needs to hear words that have haunted you in the quiet of the night.

When I read that a few days ago, I responded to his story with this comment.

Damn, Joe, now is not the right time when I am in the middle of a major project. A great challenge, though. Let me chew on it. There is a name ringing in my head.

Her name was Jan. I met her in the cafeteria at the Greyhound station in Oklahoma City.

I was people-watching, as I often did in those days. Something about her caught my attention. I don’t know if it was the long golden blonde hair, her slim frame, or the vibe she was emitting, but I gathered all the courage I could muster and walked up to her table and asked if I could join her.

She shrugged her shoulders, which I took to mean it was okay. I sat down. She was on her way to Albuquerque if memory serves me right. Heck, that was 1976, I have slept since then.

She was a poet. She was working on a poem about soldiers during the civil war. I pretended to be interested, but I was relatively new in the US; I knew nothing about it.

I asked her if she would like to go to a movie.

We spent several hours together and when I dropped her off at the bus station, the look in her eyes said she didn’t want to go; but I dropped her off anyway. Forty-plus years later that look still haunts me and I often wonder about her.

Yes, I’d call Jan. I’d ask what her last name is, and tell her how sorry I am for being such a jerk and a fool to let her slip away.

What about you? Who would you call?

As always, thank you for reading and responding.

Rasheed Hooda is a published author, and a regular contributor and editor for ILLUMINATION, a writers’ community on Medium, where writers support each other.

He is a self-proclaimed weirdo who lives a Freedom Lifestyle and writes about related topics — Travel (a top writer), Personal Growth, Freedom, and entrepreneurship. (Get the Newsletter)

More about me:

An interview by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz for ILLUMINATION

Testimonial by other writers.